Laws my clients told me

Ken Lammers starts a list of things that make him go "Hmmmm" with a short example of the two sources of jurisprudence in our clients' lives: on the one hand, statutes and caselaw and your lawyer's considered opinion, on the other, what your cellies tell you. Guess which one's the more persuasive authority?

"Every single year I have clients who believe the scuttlebutt at the jail which tells them this is going to happen and tell me to my face that I'm wrong when I say it ain't gonna."

I saw a bit of this in action in court today. Co-worker of mine, really good trial attorney and all-around good guy, was standing before the judge with a guy in orange. Guy in orange was bad-mouthing my buddy for supposedly not knowing the law (there was also a bit of poor-mouthing about how he couldn't afford a real lawyer, and how the p.d. didn't care about him because he wasn't paying for the p.d.'s services). Dude told the judge that he'd do a better job representing himself.

Hearing that, I wanted to say, "it's your funeral." I'm afraid that I tend toward the passive-aggressive response when my clients correct me on the law. If I looked at these little impasses as teaching moments instead... presto, I'd be the legal educator I've always dreamed of becoming. Gotta get a laptop and some CD-ROM's of every case in US Reports and Pacific Reporter to take with me to jail visits.

In the absence of law books on disc, here are some holdings my clients have briefed me on lately:

* If it wasn't performed in the field, it's not a valid field test
(which is more expansive than what was apparently the previous ruling: "They have to perform the field test in a field.")

* If the cop doesn't give you a ticket for the reason you were pulled over, you can't be prosecuted for the drugs in your car (or the DUI, or...)

* If you have a pending charge and the judge orders you to have no contact with the alleged victim, and then you go ahead and have contact, you can't be found guilty of violating the no-contact order unless (or until) you've been found guilty of the pending charge

and an old reliable,

* If the cop didn't read you your rights, then they have to dismiss the case.

There seems to be a trend, at least in the 17+ years I've been at this, let's say, of increasing confidence on the part of many clients in their own legal knowledge and judgment. The corresponding trend, naturally enough, is decreasing reliance on their lawyer's advice. I blame meth and Judge Judy. This confidence does not correlate in any way to actual outcomes, which usually mean incarceration. In fact, over in the clients' parallel law school, most often the instructors with the most prestige are the ones with the most convictions and doing the most time.

They should know.